“Dear Steve,
We were in a bad/pick-a-payment/bi-weekly mortgage loan and in our struggle to keep our house, we used credit cards to supplement paying our household expenses. We have found ourselves with nearly $40,000 of debt. After three attempts, we finally have a loan modification, so now are making every effort to ‘catch up’. We have not used credit cards since receiving the loan mod.
It will take us forever to pay off our balances just making minimum or slightly higher payments so we are researching to find a service to help us negotiate lower interest rates, payments, and possibly even lower balances. But, there are so many ads out there for such and we want to be sure it is a legit organization. Which would you recommend….a Debt Management Plan? or Debt Mitigation (which apparently involves attorneys, such as Nat’l Consumer Law Group)? What are the pros/cons of each, or are there other services available which would be better? What is the best way to go about this so that we can be debt-free in 3-5 years?
Sandy”
Dear Sandy,
I’ve got just the perfect online tool for you to use and evaluate your options. Click here for the How to Get Out of Debt Calculator.
I’d like for you to look at your options and then come back here and post a comment about what looks most logical to you.
We need to then evaluate your situation based on the solution that you think feels right and balance that with making sure you can move forward in a safe way to be able to save money and build your emergency fund while to try to dig out of debt.

You are not alone. I'm here to help. There is no need to suffer in silence. We can get through this. Tomorrow can be better than today. Don't give up.
Do you have a question you'd like to ask me for free? Go ahead and click here.
- Plastic Pandemic: US Credit Card Debt Surges Nearly 20% in Q1 2021! - May 12, 2023
- The IRS Resumes Collections Notices: What You Need to Know Before It’s Too Late - May 12, 2023
- How Can I Deal With Payday Loan Debt? - May 12, 2023